Pokemon Go: What Is a Raid Pass?

Now that the Raid Battle system is live in Pokemon Go,players must acquaint themselves with the concept of a Raid Pass. So what, exactly, are these passes, why should players want them, and how are they obtained?

In Pokemon Go, a Raid Battle involves dozens of players coming together at a gym to defeat a high-leveled Pokemon. But you can’t just join one of these raids whenever you want. Rather, you need a Raid Pass in order to get in on the fun. These passes are obtained simply by spinning Photo Discs at gyms. Part of this Pokemon Go update is the fact that gyms now have Photo Discs that can be spun for items just like PokeStops.

You can only receive one Raid Pass per day, though. The pass only entitles you to one raid, and so once you use it, it’s gone, and you’d need a whole other pass to compete in a second raid. The pass will be gone even if you end up backing out of the Raid Battle before it begins, so you’ll have to be careful about when and where you use it.

If you’ve already used your Raid Pass and want to participate in more Raid Battles that day, you can purchase a Premium Raid Pass from the game’s store. With both passes, the item grants you entry to the entire raid process. If, for example, you’re not able to defeat the boss during battle, you can rejoin the raid without needing a second pass.

The Raid Battle system was originally not expected to be unveiled for a few weeks, but quite a few players are now getting their hands on it, with the feature now being available to those level 25 and above. This came during the same week as a massive new update to the game which has fundamentally changed the gym system.